Dec 27, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Ike Diogu scored 16 points and Donnell Knight 15 as Arizona State advanced to the championship of its holiday tournament with a 79-52 rout of Bucknell on Friday night.
The Sun Devils (7-3) will play Nebraska in for the ASU/azcentral.com Hoops Classic on Saturday night. The Cornhuskers beat UC Santa Barbara 60-57 in the first game.
Curtis Millage contributed 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Diogu was 4-of-5 and Knight 6-of-8 to help Arizona State match its season high for accuracy at 63.3 percent.
Boakai Lalugba and Dan Blankenship had 12 points each for the Bison (4-5).
The Sun Devils broke open a tight first half with a 14-2 run in the final 5:26.
Knight, who had 11 points at halftime, started the surge with two successive putbacks and Diogu had a three-point play and a layup. Arizona State opened a 39-22 lead when Kyle Dodd made a layup with four seconds to go.
In the second half, the Sun Devils outscored Bucknell 23-6 in the first 10:40, closing the run with two 3-pointers by Jamal Hill, one by Millage and a dunk by Kyle Dodd off a pass from Millage after a steal.
That sent Arizona State to a 62-28 lead.